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fatigue

/fəˈtiːɡ/noun, verb

fatigue is spelled F-A-T-I-G-U-E: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 7.2 times per million words in written English, the 8,784th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, fatigue means “A weariness caused by exertion; exhaustion” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of fatigue is fatigues.

How many letters and syllables are in fatigue?

Letters7: F-A-T-I-G-U-E
Syllables2 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing7.2 times per million words; the 8,784th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How common is fatigue?

Fatigue appears 7.2 times per million words in written English, the 8,784th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce fatigue?

  • /fəˈtiːɡ/

Fatigue has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-fatigue.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of fatigue

  • fatigues plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • fatiguing participle, present
  • fatigued participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does fatigue mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    A weariness caused by exertion; exhaustion.

  2. 2

    A menial task or tasks, especially in the military.

  3. 3

    Weakening and eventual failure of material, typically by cracking leading to complete separation, caused by repeated application of mechanical stress to the material.

  4. 4

    USAttributive form of fatigues (“military clothing worn when doing menial tasks”). (a form of fatigues)

verb

  1. 1

    To tire or make weary by physical or mental exertion.

  2. 2

    To wilt a salad by dressing or tossing it.

  3. 3

    To lose so much strength or energy that one becomes tired, weary, feeble or exhausted.

  4. 4

    To undergo the process of fatigue; to fail as a result of fatigue.

  5. 5

    To cause to undergo the process of fatigue.

    The repeated pressurization cycles fatigued the airplane's metal skin until it eventually broke up in flight.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Fatigue in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchfatigue, épuisement (weariness), corvée (menial task, especially in military), fatiguer (to tire or make weary)
GermanMüdigkeit, Ermüdung, Schlappheit, Überdruss, Erschöpfung (weariness), ermüden (to tire or make weary)
Portuguesefadiga (weariness), fatigar, assediar (to tire or make weary)
Spanishfatiga, fatigación (weariness), fatigar, acosar (to tire or make weary)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does fatigue come from?

From French fatigue, from fatiguer, from Latin fatīgāre (“to weary, tire, vex, harass”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

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